Faculty

Director

Ballet, Pointe, Repertory, Variations, Jazz

Jessica Wilson began her dance training through the Royal Academy of Dancing with Mary Tolland and received coaching from Herida May for R.A.D. exams. She also studied intensely with well known teacher Jacqueline Cronsberg, graduated from Walnut Hill School in Natick, Massachusetts, and later attended State University New York (SUNY) at Purchase where she majored in dance and psychology and minored in philosophy.

Ms. Wilson began her teaching career in 1993 when she joined the faculty of Ballet Workshop New England. She was appointed Associate Director of the school in 2003. Ms. Wilson has also held the position of Ballet Mistress with the Massachusetts Youth Ballet since the company originated in 1995. There, she worked closely with Sandra Jennings, Repetiteur for the George Balanchine Trust. In 2003, Ms. Wilson was appointed Artistic Associate of the company.

In an effort to bring quality classical ballet training west of Boston and to the Worcester area, Ms. Wilson has founded MetroWest Ballet. Her intentions are to provide a warm and nurturing atmosphere of small classes and individual attention and to uphold the highest standards of classical ballet training. Ms. Wilson has been invited to teach at Boston Ballet School's Young Dancers Summer Program and Performing Arts Center of Worcester Summer Program. She will celebrate twenty-five years of teaching this coming school year. Outside of the ballet studio Ms. Wilson works as a Tutor for Sudbury Public Schools and co-owns an apiary providing beekeeping service in Cental Massachusetts.

Associate Director

Ballet, Pointe, Repertory, Adult Ballet

Jennifer Markham is currently on faculty at Boston Ballet School, the Franklin School for the Performing Arts, as well as running her own classes at Ballet on the 3rd Floor. At Boston Ballet, Ms. Markham spent several years as a Children’s Ballet Mistress for the annual production of The Nutcracker, and as the Children’s Theatre Manager for the professional company. Over the last decade she has taught in the Children’s, Classical Ballet, and Adult Divisions of the Boston Ballet School, as well as the Citydance and Taking Healthy Steps outreach programs in the Education and Community Initiatives department. In addition, Ms. Markham is an ABT® certified teacher in Pre-Primary to Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.

Faculty

Cathy Hazeltine Fallon

Ballet, Conditioning, Alexander Technique

Cathy Hazeltine Fallon began dancing in Marblehead, MA. with Midge and Bill Haggett. She trained with Melissa Hayden, at Skidmore College, with Laurence Rhodes, Christina Bernal and Maggie Black while at Garden State Ballet, and with Todd Bolender, Jonathan Watts, and Una Kai at Kansas City Ballet. She performed in ballets of George Balanchine, Lew ChristensenTodd Bolender, Peter Anastos, and Paul Mejia. In 1982 she was principal dancer at the Santa Fe Opera. She studied with Twyla Tharp and company, understudied Mark Morris’ The Hard Nut, and performed with Laura Dean, Martita Goshen, Robin Becker, and Joann Fregalette Jansen. She learned Pilates Technique from Joseph Pilates’ protegé Kathy Grant. She taught for Young Audiences in New York City public schools. She has taught at various schools in the Metro West area and was Director of Studio Ballet of Hudson from 2006-2012. She holds a B.S. in Kinesthetic Education and Dance from State University of New York, and is an AmSAT certified teacher of the Alexander Technique mind/body awareness technique. She incorporates the Alexander Technique and Pilates into her teaching to give students the necessary tools for core strength, proper alignment, and ease of movement.

Alena Ghastin

Ballet, Pointe, Repertory

Meghan Mangsen

Adult Ballet, Jazz

Meghan Mangsen grew up on Cape Cod where she began her training at Beth Walsh Dance Centre in Centerville, MA. There she concentrated in many idioms of dance such as Ballet/ Pointe, Tap, Jazz, and Modern under the direction of Beth Walsh. Meghan took additional ballet classes from Irene Merrill and Virginia Zango. Her dance training continued to develop at The Gold School in Brockton, MA. There she was under the direction of Rennie Gold, Kathy Kozul, and Nailah Randall-Bellinger. After graduating from a small town high school and receiving The Donna Lynn Yanoff Scholarship (given to one student continuing their studies in the performing arts), Meghan started her college career at UMASS Amherst. Wanting more performance opportunities she transferred to Dean College in Franklin,MA where Meghan graduated High Honors with a B.A. in Dance/ Pedagogy and was awarded the Trustees Prize of Dance in 2007.

After graduating Meghan taught Ballet, Modern, and Jazz at Beth Walsh Dance Centre for a year. Deciding to focus more on her performing career she joined Pioneer Valley Ballet in Easthampton, MA as a company dancer and a guest teacher. She performed professionally with PVB for 9 years under co- artistic directors Maryanne Kodzis and Thomas Vacanti, where she performed lead roles in the Nutcracker, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Firebird. Meghan has also performed Arabian and Dew Drop Fairy in MetroWest Ballet's Nutcracker.

Last year Meghan decided to retire from professionally dancing and focus on teaching for Metro West Ballet and the Assabet After Dark program.